Senior Bowl 2015 Roster: Full Teams and Prospects to Watch in Showcase
The NFL Scouting Combine may get most of the love in terms of pre-draft evaluations, but the Senior Bowl gives scouts and coaches a chance to see some of the top prospects in the country in actual game action.
Considering NFL games are played with pads and helmets and not shorts and a stopwatch, performances at the Senior Bowl matter.
Here is a look at the essential information for this year's game, including the full rosters and most intriguing prospects to watch.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
2015 Senior Bowl
Date: Saturday, January 24, 2015
Time: 4 p.m. ET
Where: Mobile, Alabama
Stadium: Ladd-Peebles Stadium
TV: NFL Network
Rosters:
| QB Bryce Petty (Baylor) | CB Quandre Diggs (Texas) |
| QB Sean Mannion (Oregon St.) | CB Doran Grant (Ohio State) |
| QB Shane Carden (East Carolina) | CB Quinten Rollins (Miami Oh.) |
| RB Ameer Abdullah (Nebraska) | CB Eric Rowe (Utah) |
| RB David Cobb (Minnesota) | CB Steven Nelson (Oregon St.) |
| RB Jeremy Langford (Michigan State) | CB Josh Shaw (USC) |
| FB Tyler Varga (Yale) | S Damarious Randall (Arizona St.) |
| TE Casey Pierce (Kent State) | S Adrian Amos (Penn St.) |
| TE Ben Koyack (Notre Dame) | S Ibraheim Campbell (Northwestern) |
| TE Nick Boyle (Delaware) | S Kurtis Drummond (Michigan St.) |
| WR Antwan Goodley (Baylor) | DE Henry Anderson (Stanford) |
| WR Vince Mayle (Washington State) | DE Deion Barnes (Penn St.) |
| WR Tony Lippett (Michigan State) | DE Hau'oli Kikaha (Washington) |
| WR Ty Montgomery (Stanford) | DE Marcus Hardison (Arizona St.) |
| WR Devin Smith (Ohio State) | DE Za'Darius Smith (Kentucky) |
| WR Jamison Crowder (Duke) | DE Nate Orchard (Utah) |
| WR Justin Hardy (East Carolina) | DT Carl Davis (Iowa) |
| OT Ali Marpet (Hobart) | DT Louis Trinca-Pasat (Iowa) |
| OT Trenton Brown (Florida) | DT Danny Shelton (Washington) |
| OT Rob Havenstein (Wisconsin) | ILB Hayes Pullard (USC) |
| OT T.J. Clemmings (Pittsburgh) | ILB Jeff Luc (Cincinnati) |
| OT Jamil Douglas (Arizona State) | OLB Zach Hodges (Harvard) |
| OT Donovan Smith (Penn State) | OLB Mike Hull (Penn St.) |
| C Max Garcia (Florida) | OLB Jordan Hicks (Texas) |
| C Chris Jasperse (Marshall) | PK Tom Obarski (Concordia-St. Paul) |
| G Laken Tomlinson (Duke) | PT Kyle Loomis (Portland State) |
| G Robert Myers (Tennessee St.) | LS Joe Cardona (Navy) |
| QB Garrett Grayson (Colorado St.) | CB Ladarius Gunter (Miami) |
| QB Blake Sims (Alabama) | CB JaCorey Shepherd (Kansas) |
| QB Nick Marshall (Auburn) | CB Kevin White (TCU) |
| RB Cameron Artis-Payne (Auburn) | CB Senquez Golson (Ole Miss) |
| RB David johnson (Northern Iowa) | CB Imoan Claiborne (Northwestern St.) |
| FB Jalston Fowler (Alabama) | CB D'Joun Smith (Florida Atlantic) |
| FB Connor Neighbors (LSU) | S Clayton Geathers (Central Florida) |
| TE C.J. Uzomah (Auburn) | S Cody Prewitt (Ole Miss) |
| TE Clive Walford (Miami) | S Anthony Jefferson (UCLA) |
| TE Devin Mahina (BYU) | S Jaquiski Tartt (Samford) |
| WR Phillip Dorsett (Miami) | DE Markus Golden (Missouri) |
| WR Devante Davis (UNLV) | DE Preston Smith (Mississippi State) |
| WR Josh Harper (Fresno St.) | DE Trey Flowers (Arkansas) |
| WR Tyler Lockett (Kansas St.) | DE Owamagbe Odighizuwa (UCLA) |
| WR Sammie Coates (Auburn) | DT Joey Mbu (Houston) |
| WR Donatella Luckett (Harding) | DT Grady Jarrett (Clemson) |
| WR Dezmin Lewis (Central Arkansas) | DT Kaleb Eulls (Mississippi State) |
| WR Rannell Hall (Central Florida) | DT Gabe Wright (Auburn) |
| OT Tayo Fabuluje (TCU) | ILB Amarlo Herrera (Georgia) |
| OT Daryl Williams (Oklahoma) | ILB Stephone Anthony (Clemson) |
| OT Austin Shepherd (Alabama) | ILB Denzel Perryman (Miami) |
| OT Ty Sambrailo (Colorado St.) | OLB Martrell Spaight (Arkansas) |
| OT La'el Collins (LSU) | OLB Lorenzo Mauldin (Louisville) |
| C Reese Dismukes (Auburn) | OLB Lynden Trail (Norfolk State) |
| C Dillon Day (Mississippi State) | LS Andrew East (Vanderbilt) |
| G Arie Kouandjio (Alabama) | PK Justin Manton (Louisiana Monroe) |
| G Shaq Mason (Georgia Tech) | - |
| G Tre Jackson (Florida State) | - |
Top Prospects to Watch
WR Devin Smith, Ohio State
There may be no player in the country with more momentum than Ohio State wide receiver Devin Smith.
His team won the national championship in dominating fashion over Oregon. He torched Wisconsin for 137 receiving yards and three touchdowns in the Big Ten Championship Game and handled the feared Alabama defense for 87 receiving yards and a touchdown in the Sugar Bowl.
There was a time earlier in the season when he wasn't even an every-down type of player in Ohio State's receiver rotation.
He is arguably the top deep threat in the draft because of his impressive straight-line speed that helped him average 28.2 yards per catch this season and 37.9 yards per touchdown catch in his career. However, this is an opportunity to show that he can run intermediate routes as well.
Smith was also one of Ohio State's top gunners when covering punts, and that type of versatility could help him move up draft boards.
The stats are there—121 career catches for 2,503 yards and 30 touchdowns and a 22-0 record when he hauls in a touchdown pass. Now, he has to prove that there is more to his game than just burning defenders deep.
Smith provided something of a self-assessment, via Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun:
"It's been a great week so far. I think I've shown I can compete with the best receivers and showing I can run all the routes. I think that's very imperative for me to show that I can run all the other routes and that I can block and do all the necessary things that a wide receiver has to do.
I know I can run all the other routes, the intermediate routes and things like that, it's just a matter of me showing it to these coaches. One area I need to work on is blocking. I think a lot of times a lot of defensive backs are scared of me going deep, so a lot of times when we had a run, I acted like I was running a go route and took them out of the equation.
"
The fact that Smith understands what he has to work on should only encourage NFL scouts.
QB/CB Nick Marshall, Auburn
Nick Marshall dazzled against SEC defenses this season from the Auburn quarterback position with 2,532 passing yards, 798 rushing yards and 31 total touchdowns. He made a number of plays with his pure athleticism and instincts and often left defenders grasping for air on missed tackles.
He will hope to use some of those athletic traits now in an effort to become a cornerback at the NFL level.
Marshall clearly thinks the position switch is the best route for his NFL dreams, and it is not an altogether unfamiliar spot for him since he played cornerback as a freshman at Georgia. Jacksonville Jaguars coach Gus Bradley seemed to have his eye on Marshall, via John Glennon of The Tennessean:
"He's very intriguing because of his size and length and speed. His first (practice), he comes in there and doesn't even know how to align his feet, and then we go to the red zone today and he was making plays in the red zone. So he's a really quick learner, really understands it. He just needs reps. But he is someone you look at and feel like he's got the height, weight and speed you're looking for.
"
Marshall is such an intriguing prospect at the Senior Bowl because this may be his only in-game opportunity to show to scouts what he can do as a cornerback after playing quarterback for a couple of years at Auburn.
No pressure.
QB Bryce Petty
It may not be fair, but Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty's 3,855 passing yards and 29 touchdown tosses he put up this year come with a grain of salt when it comes to NFL evaluations.
He has to prove that he wasn't just a product of the Bears' up-tempo system that put him in the shotgun on every snap and rarely forced him to work through any progressions. Events like the Senior Bowl are critical for his chances because he has the opportunity to show NFL scouts that there is more to his game than quick-hitting shotgun throws.
Tom Reed of Northeast Ohio Media Group provided an early evaluation at the Senior Bowl practices:
"Petty had a tough first day of practice Tuesday in front of NFL personnel at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Working under center and taking plenty of five- and seven-step drops, he struggled with his accuracy and timing.
It's only one practice and the players he will call teammates Saturday were only assembled on Monday. But as a quarterback who wants to inject his name in the company of Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston – the presumptive first two quarterbacks off the board in the 2015 NFL Draft – he understands his window to impress league decision makers is tight.
"
Fortunately for Petty, the most important part of this process is arguably the game itself because it gives scouts and coaches the opportunity to see him perform with pads on under pressure. If he turns in a solid performance Saturday, it will help solidify those eye-popping collegiate numbers in the eyes of NFL personnel.
After all, it only takes one team to fall in love with a prospect.
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